Cell phone tracking can be great; it’s like magic since it could find your lost handset. However mobile tracking is not everything, it has weaknesses too. There are a few situations that cell phone trace might not help, one of which would be it could take a long time for you to realize that your Smartphone is gone. If you are aware of the unfortunate incident in time, there’s a chance you can get it back at once and do not need to turn to GPS tracking technology.

Well do not worry; new technology can do that for you. Apple recently filed a new patent application utilizing in-built accelerometer and special anti-theft protection system to detect the unnatural movement of its iOS devices initiated by people other than its owner. The system will sound the alarm if it detects something similar to pre-determined “profile characteristic of theft.”

In order to avoid false alarms and improve the accuracy, Apple added signal filtering hardware to the new system. For example, the module ignores signal produced by vibration for strike of the mobile devices. Generally the accelerometer reacts to all kinds of accelerating movements and sends out the signal.

Apple will also let the users configure the sensitivity. The customers can set the value for the sensitivity, the alarm sound and the volume of the sound. In the meantime, the warning message can be showed on the screen too.

Although all iPhone, iPad and iPod come with accelerometers, they lack the signal filters and the protection system. So basically we will not see them on any available iOS devices.

Apple is not the only one to use this technology. Google has already got their patent on it approved. The new Google patent is about protecting its Project Glass from stealing, a device costs up to $1500 (more expensive than most Smartphone and tablet on the market). The patent showed that Google Glass will stop working and lock the data once it recognizes unnatural movements. For example if someone yanks it. But what if the thief quietly takes it away? Well the built-in sensors can also identify the thief by the differences of the way how people wear it. That is, the angle and strap tension, etc. That’s right; the glass records how the rightful owner wears it.

Natural movement

Unnatural movement

While the device could not stop others from stealing it, it does protect your data stored and notifies the authority of lost.

We do not know yet how effective this new technology works. However we will know better when devices equipped with it become available. Judging solely from the information available, it seems promising. And the thieves could lean the tricks about how to avoid or even crack it once they get to know enough. A case in point is cars get stolen with the advanced security alarm system installed too. While the big question still lies in how to get it back after handsets goes missing. After all, locate a device is relatively easy, while recovering it is another story.